Books Suggested:

Publisher: Human Kinetics

1.Teaching Disability Sport by Ronald W.Davis

2. Adapted aquatics programming: a professional guide

By Monica Lepore, G. William Gayle, Shawn F. Stevens

Aquatic Therapy - Advantages

1.1. Decreases Weight bearing on joints

2.2. Free movement with less risk of injury

3.3. Has the ability to affect all major body systems

4.4. Improvement in Balance

5.5. Weightlessness under water helps even the weaker

muscles to undergo active contractions

6.6. Loss of bone density will be slowed down

Aquatic Therapy - Risks

1.1. Slippery environment with increased risk of falls

outside pool

2.2. Risk of infection

3.3. Risk of drowning

Suggestions/precautions for the challenged people who are going to start learning swimming:

It is not recommended that Aquatic Therapy be administered to patients with any of the following conditions:

·Fever

·Cardiac failure

·Urinary infections

·Bowel/bladder incontinence

·Open wounds

·Infectious diseases

·Contagious skin conditions

·Excessive fear of water

·Uncontrolled seizures

·Colostomy bag/catheter use by patient

·Cognitive or functional impairment that creates a hazard to the patient or others in the pool

·Severely weakened or deconditioned state that poses a safety hazard

·Extremely poor endurance

·Severely decreased range of motion that limits function and poses a safety hazard

·Allergies or sensitivities to pool chemicals

·Suicidal patients

There are some important factors to consider when assessing the value of Aquatic Therapy to individual patients. The therapist needs to exercise caution with the following situations:

· Confusion or disorientation

· After ingestion of alcoholic beverages

· Limited strength, endurance, balance,or range of motion

· Medications

· Respiratory problems

· Patients with hypertension

Some more suggestions:

1. Pl maintain a gap of 3 to 4 hours between starting swimming and in take of solid food.

2. Pl have some liquid diet (like juice, water etc) 1 hour before swimming.

3. Immediately after swimming you can again have some liquid food and solid food also you can take. No problem.

4. After swimming and taking bath, you can apply efaderm cream (vitamin e) or simple coconut oil. Due to chlorine in water, your skin may become dry. To avoid that you can apply oil after swimming. You can also apply olive oil one hour prior to swimming.

5. For buying items related to swimming, it will be good if you go personally. You can buy items as per your size.

6. All the aspirants need to take their doctor's advice before starting swimming.

7. Initially pl do things whatever you can do under water and also whatever time you can do, you do it. Pl don't try to do all the things on the first day itself. If you find any difficulty in doing a particular thing, Pl don't do it even if the coach advises also.

8. Slow and steady wins the race.

Pl purchase the following items for swimming classes:

1. Goggles

2. Ear plug

3. Swim suit (For women if they are not comfortable with the swimsuit, they can use track suits after taking permission from the pool management)

4.Tube (Pl find out suitable size. if it is very big, your body movement may not be free. Pl ensure buying correct size tube)

5. Cap

Suggestions for the organizations who are interested in supporting disability (Adaptive) Sports.

Before starting any sports programme for the challenged, pl consult physician and physiotherapists.

Encouraging disability sports in your organization – Setting an example for others.
Identifying the Schools and Colleges which are having physically challenged students
Try to convince the Managements of those Schools and Colleges to encourage disability sports
If they are convinced, you can extend support by providing required equipment (at least for some people) and also assistance through your own sports persons. Ex: Your volleyball players can be given training in conducting sitting volleyball for the challenged. They will play the role of players as well as facilitators. They will also sit and play without using their legs. Similarly you can try this with other sports events also. Through internet you can get some support in arranging training. In youtube, how to train the challenged in particular sports event is available with videos. If required you can take the support from differently-abled players.
Try to make them participate in disability sports events.

With regards to swimming:

Coaching for swimming can be arranged for these children.

The objective of providing coaching in swimming to physically challenged children is to make them and their parents understand that they also can swim. And to make them realize, how beneficial it is in improving their general health. As this is a totally unfamiliar concept for many people, by providing coaching it can be established that this can be achieved if some support is extended to these children.

However to have better results, swimming has to be done on a continuous basis.

Owners of swimming pools in those areas can be requested to give concession in fee for these children to maintain their health.

Precautions to be taken before starting swimming:

1. Consult a physician for preliminary advice
2. Consult physiotherapists to know about the duration to be allotted for swimming (Ex:half an hour or one hour etc),frequency in a week and other exercises under water.
3.No food items (solid) should be taken at least four hours before swimming.
4.Juices, water or other soft drinks can be taken upto one hour before swimming. And immediately after swimming, juices/water/other liquids need to be taken.
5. Pl advise children not to drink water in pool as far as possible.
6. Swim Suit, life jacket/swimming float,cap,goggles and ear plugs with proper fitting are mandatory.

With regards to creating awareness:

Conducting presentations in Schools and Colleges
Request your staff to spread this message among their friends with a request to spread it further.
Through Media
Through Short films (Showing in TV Channels and Movie theatres and also in other places where it can be reached majority of people)
Requesting for support from Celebrities
Distributing brochures in organizations, apartments and through daily news papers
Advising people to go through my blog where I will update all our efforts which will be a guidance for others.
You can also request community halls to request the people who approach them for conducting some programmes to allot a time slot of five minutes to give presentation about this movement.

The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes withmobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_Games

The Deaflympics (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are an International Olympic Committee (IOC)-sanctioned event at which deaf athletes compete at an elite level.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaflympics

Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Olympics

The Extremity Games is an adapitve sports competition, athletes with amputations and limb differences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremity_Games
http://www.extremitygames.com/

Paralympic Committee of India
http://www.paralympicindia.org/

Pl find the below useful links:
http://www.ifapa.biz/
http://www.iscd.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErqA6PDYt7Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mYKkt-PEpo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQaZqDBeALU&feature=related